This Is Me
by Do The Cool Whip
Summary: The only thing harder than getting in a gang is getting out. That's what a group of friends find out as they are dragged for the ride, as they desperately attempt to free the ones they love from their pasts. This isn't fair, they aren't cops, only teens.
1. Chapter 1

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, or any of it's characters. Hell, I don't even own Bakura's last name of Itmeri.

* * *

"What happened?" Ryou looked over to Marik who had a strange glint in his eyes. To anyone else it may seem maniacal, but Ryou had known Marik for a long time. That glint in his eyes meant something awesome had happen. Though their definitions of an awesome event were sometimes completely opposite.

"What gave it away?" Marik asked a slightly crazed grin appearing on his face.

"The 'I-just-brutally-murdered-someone' look."

"Damn, is that on my face again?" Marik laughed as he plopped down in the seat across from Ryou.

"Marik! Don't keep me in the dark."

"Malik asked me out!"

"Yes! When is the date? Where are you going? What are you going to wear! Come on! Marik! I'm freaking out here!"

"Why are you freaking out? It's my date!"

"Because I know you won't! You're supposed to freak out when you go on your first date with someone you really like. Since you won't follow protocol someone has to! Fuck! No one appreciates me." Marik laughed a bit as Ryou started pouting. "So, when are you going?"

"After I drop you off, and I'll pick you up at midnight okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine. Aww… Look Marik! Yami's kissing that kid Yuugi! Oh no! One of them might end up pregnant!"

"Ryou, you're not allowed to watch 'American Dad' anymore. That was the last straw. You're officially banned."

"Marik!"

"No. You were told that if you use anymore references from it, you wouldn't be allowed to watch it anymore."

"Asshole." Ryou sat there sulking until the bell rang. "Lunch is over! Time for gym!" he bounced away with a happy smile on his face, Marik close behind. Exiting the cafeteria he pretended not to notice the angry glares he was getting.

~~~ 1:00 a.m. ~~~

"Did you have to sneak back in?"

"No. I just barely made curfew."

"Good."

"I know I thought I'd be screwed."

"I thought you'd be too."

"Gee, thanks for that."

"I'm only telling the truth."

"Sometimes it's better to keep things to yourself."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"So, did you like what you saw?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't give me that, you enjoyed taking that picture a bit too much."

"He's a hot little thing. I swear, he was practically begging me to fuck him."

"I never would've expected something like that from him. I mean every time we see him at school, he has his head down unless he's with his friend."

"I know. God I can't wait to get him in my bed, tie him to the bedposts and –"

"Stop right there, Bakura, but honestly who would have thought."

"I know, Malik."

***~~~ Flashback ~~~***

Malik and Marik walked through the park, passing the swings to stopping at the slides. Taking a look around, Marik noticed a familiar figure sitting on the bench. "Isn't that Bakura?" Malik took a quick glance.

"Yeah."

"Let's go over then."

"You sure?"

"Yup." They walked over to the bench and the figure looked up.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We could ask you the same thing." Malik said softly.

"You could, but I wouldn't tell you."

"I thought so." Marik stayed quiet throughout the whole encounter. Suddenly his phone went off, opening it he saw a message on the screen. 'DROP MALIK OFF AND PICK UP RYOU!!' "What was that?" Malik asked head turning to look at Marik.

"I have to go pick someone up now."

"Okay, so where are we going?"

"You want to come?"

"Well duh! We're on a date right, so if you're going, I'm going too."

"Malik, are you sure? It's going to be a 45 minute drive."

"Yup, Bakura, you drove here right?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because we came on a motorcycle, you're going to have to drive me back." Bakura _and_ Marik gave Malik a look, silently wondering if they had misjudged his sanity.

"If that's the case, why don't you just stay here?" Bakura's eye twitched at how ridiculous Malik could be.

Marik's phone went off again. He opened it and brought it to his ear. "Hello?

"Yes, tell Ryou I'm coming to get him. … Not yet. … No. Take him off duty. … It's none of your damn business. How the hell do you guys always know what happens in my life. … Are you serious? … Tell him to shut his trap too then. … No, I'm just coming to grab him. … I don't care, keep them the hell away. … A broomstick? … I don't want to know. … Whatever. Bye."

"Come on, Bakura! Please?"

"Fine. If it'll shut you up."

* * *

As they approached a small club, Malik heard music that normally wouldn't be played at a club. "Who is that??"

"Nickelback."

"What kind of club plays Nickelback?"

"This one." Malik raised an eyebrow at Marik.

"Marik! You're here late, Ryou said you'd be here at midnight. We'd thought we'd see you at 10."

"Shut up." Malik blinked, wondering how often an underage teen knew the bouncer of a club 45 minutes away from his neighbourhood.

"Is this your date?"

"Damn it! How many of you know?"

"Everyone. Why are you surprised, when over half the club knows your life story?" Marik groaned passing the guy, he grabbed Malik's hand making sure he had a good hold of him. Bakura walked close behind them, making sure both Marik's hands were in view.

Bakura gasped when he entered the crowded room. At the far end of the room there was a stage, three poles were equally spaced across it. But that hadn't been what made him gasp, on the stage was a boy with long silver hair singing and dancing. He had a black mask on that covered the upper portion of his face, and as the group made their way to the stage Bakura realized the boy had large green eyes.

"_S is for the Simple Need"_

The boy was wearing leather shorts that barely covered his ass. His black cami had started to slip and a nipple ring was visible now. His left hand had a fingerless black leather glove on, and he reached up to pull the ring.

"_E is for the Ecstasy"_

The boy —that Bakura knew without a doubt was Ryou— had started grinding against the center pole.

"_X is just to mark the spot"_

He licked the pole, eyes sweeping over the crowd.

"'_Cause that's the one you really want"_

His eyes locked onto Bakura's and he pulled his mouth away from the pole, only to bring his gloved hand to his mouth, and give his middle finger a hard suck.

"_Yes sex is always the answer"_

He watched as Ryou moved to the front of the stage and continued to move his body to the beat.

"_It's never a question_

'_Cause the answer's 'Yes'_

_Oh the answer's 'Yes' _

_Not just a suggestion_

_If you ask the question"_

Ryou's eyes which had strayed away during the song had returned to Bakura's, as a sensual smirk slithered onto his face.

"_Then the answers 'Yes' "_

He threw off his mask, and any non-existent doubts Bakura had flew out his metamorphic window. When Ryou licked his lips, the rest of the song was lost on Bakura.

"Okay guys! I'm going to do one more song and I'll be done for the night. My rides here, and as we all know he's crazy as fuck when I don't stop when it's time to leave. So get ready!"

"_Well it's Midnight_

_Damn Right_

_We're wound up too tight_

"_I got a fist full of whiskey_

_The bottle just bit me_

Ryou wasn't dancing now, he instead was swaying to the music, more focused on the singing instead.

"_Ohhhh_

"_Well that shit makes me_

_Bat shit crazy_

"_We got no fear_

_No doubt_

_All in_

_Balls out_

"_We're going out tonight_

_(Hey)_

_To kick out every light_

_(Hey)_

_Take anything we want_

_(Hey)_

_Drink everything in sight_

_(Hey)_

_We're going 'till the world_

_Stops turning_

_While we burn it_

_To the ground tonight"_

The crowd had started screaming out the 'hey' in the song, and during the song quite a few people had screamed Ryou's name and their love for him. Marik had surprised both Malik and Bakura when he had hopped onto a table and began to chant "Snow Bunny! Snow Bunny!" the whole crowd had ended up joining in.

After the song Ryou had bid the audience goodnight, but before that, he called them all assholes and told them to stop calling him "Snow Bunny". He disappeared after that and the trio had pushed their way through everyone so they could stand at the bar.

* * *

"Marik you're such an asshole!" The cry came five minutes after they had arrived at the bar. Malik and Bakura did a double take as they stared at Ryou. Ryou didn't notice them as he walked forward and shoved Marik, growling when he didn't budge. "Damn it! One of these days when I push you, you _will_ move."

Marik smirked at Ryou, "You keep telling yourself that." Ryou sighed before giving him a quick hug. When Ryou took a step back Marik's smirk grew even wider, "What? No purse?"

Ryou gave him another glare before bending over the counter, his skirt _and _black halter top riding up. When he stood back up he had a small black purse hung over one arm.

"Ryou don't bend over like that people will see whatever undergarments you decided to wear today." Ryou casually bent over his short skirt riding up even more as he "tied" his leather boots. "What did I just say."

"Well I have to bend over to tie these. They're all the way up to my knees, I can't crouch to tie them." Ryou said innocently, not realizing the fantastic view he was giving both Bakura and Malik.

"The things that happen when you don't listen to me." Marik sighed. Ryou gave Marik a curious look before standing up straight to see who he had given a view to. He paled at the sight of Malik and Bakura standing behind him.

"Ishtar-san! Itemri-san! What are you doing here?" he started to freak out, but calmed instantly when Marik discreetly pinched him.

"Aww. Why'd you get back up? I was enjoying the view." Bakura smirked at Ryou, expecting him to start blushing again.

"If you enjoyed it so much you should have taken a picture." Ryou shot back. Bakura's held back his surprise at the remark. But since he had to get in the last word…

"I don't normally take pictures of people without their consent, but if you want you can get back in position and I'll gladly take one."

Ryou smiled at Bakura before turning around, he bent back over and tossed his hair around and onto a single shoulder. He threw Bakura a saucy smirk. "Is this good enough?" he asked as he reached down to the ground picking up a napkin that had fallen off the bar counter.

"Yup," Bakura pulled out his phone, opened it and quickly took a picture. At the sound of the picture being taking Ryou had frozen. A bright blush took over his face, he opened and closed his mouth a few times, no sound coming out.

Marik burst into laughter, "Maybe this'll teach you not to be such a smartass!" he managed to wheeze out.

"Ryou sweetie! Can you get us a round of Budweisers?" a guy from a table a bit to their right called out. Bakura recognized them as a group of guys from Hitomisuminei High, he quickly stepped closer to Malik, blocking him from their view.

"He's off duty." Marik said gruffly, he started to walk out of the club everyone close behind.

~~~ END ~~~

So, that's the end of the chapter. I need an honest opinion of whether I should finish this or not. I probably won't because now that I look back at it, I'm starting to think that I just wasted your time, if you think I should though, tell me because I know what I want to happen in the next chapter… I'm just not sure whether I should bother to write the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, or any of it's characters. Hell, I don't even own Bakura's last name of Itmeri.

* * *

Ryou turned around and began to walk backwards out of the bar, waving to people as he left. When they got outside his phone went off he answered it quickly. "Hello? Hi mom!! … Yes, do you want to talk to him? … Ha! What a loser. … Okay, I'll remind him. … You did! Thanks so much! I'll drop by to pick it up! … No, sorry I _have _to go home to make sure that the next time I step into my house it's not over run by dust bunnies. … I don't?! I'll make sure to rub it in too! … Okay, I love you too! BYE!!

"Marik, your mom said that you have to clean up the entire house since you insisted on throwing the party at your place."

"Fuck! When does it have to be done by?"

"Sunday." Marik let out a breath of relief calming down since he wasn't going to have to finish it on his own tonight.

"Great!! That means I can rope you, Yami, and Seto into helping tomorrow."

"Nope!!! Mom said you have to do it _all _by yourself!" Ryou grinned at Marik, and stuck his tongue out before quickly running behind Bakura when he reached over to smack him.

During the conversation Malik and Bakura exchanged a look, wondering what they were talking about. _Ryou said it was his mom… so how could it have been Marik's as well. Are they brothers?_ Malik thought.

"You're so immature." Marik sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Yup, telling me I'm immature is a fantastic way to get me to help you clean up the house." Ryou said with a smirk, making sure he was well hidden behind Bakura.

"Pretty big words for someone who's hiding behind me," Bakura said stopping suddenly and holding back a smirk when Ryou crashed into him.

"Of course I'm hiding behind you. This way if Marik lunges at me he'll have to get through you first, and I can safely get away… or I can get a few streets away before he finally catches me." Ryou smiled brightly at Bakura, though he couldn't see it.

"Is that so?" Bakura asked amused at Ryou's "master" plan. Ryou paled a bit, snapping out of it, and losing his bright exterior. He dropped his eyes and stepped around Bakura so he was walking at Marik side again.

"No, I'll stop hiding behind you now." His voice was quiet, as he kept walking. Marik looked at Ryou and raised an eyebrow at him. Malik seeing the glance decided to join the conversation.

"Ryou are you okay?" Ryou blinked confused at why Malik used his first name, before realizing it would be awkward to call both him and Itemri-san by the same name.

"I'm fine Ishtar-san." Ryou said softly, not looking up. Malik and Bakura shared a look, before they nodded at each other.

"Call me Malik, and Bakura, Bakura okay. It feels weird having someone call us by our last name."

Ryou looked up and gave Malik a bright smile, "Okay, Malik."

The group stopped walking when they arrived at the VIP parking in front of Marik's 2009 Honda CRF230M and beside it was Bakura's 2009 Cadillac Converj. Ryou calmly walked over to Marik's bike before Bakura stopped him.

"Ryou, where are you going, I'll drive you home." Marik blinked at Bakura, observing the sudden change in attitude came from.

"Are you sure, Bakura? I thought you were going to take Malik and I'd take Ryou."

"Marik, he's right. We shouldn't separate you two love birds. Now go drop him off at home, and if you're lucky he'll give you a good night kiss." Ryou quickly blew Marik a kiss before bouncing off to Bakura's car. "Bye Malik!" he said cheerfully.

"Ryou that's not my car." Bakura smirked. Ryou blinked as he observed the parking lot.

"Yes it is! I know who owns each car in this parking lot, and this one doesn't belong to any of the club workers." He stuck his tongue out at Bakura and looked quite proud of himself.

Bakura smirked at Ryou as he walked over to the driver side of the car. He nodded over at Marik and Malik as they straddled the bike. Marik nodded back while Malik gave his farewell to Ryou.

* * *

Ryou smiled at Bakura as he got out of the car. "Thanks for the ride, Bakura." Bakura grinned at Ryou as an idea popped into his head.

"What? No good night kiss?" he held back a snicker at the look on Ryou's face. Ryou glared at him before responding in a huffy tone.

"What have you done to earn your good night kiss? If you wanted one you would have walked me to the door." Bakura just barely managed to stop his eyebrows from shooting up to his hair line as he looked at Ryou. Slowly a sly grin began to form on his face.

"I'm sorry; I don't know how I managed to forget such an important fact. Allow me to rectify the situation." He got out of his car and locked arms with Ryou as he walked him to the front door.

Ryou smiled at him softly, "Now you can have your good night kiss." Ryou gave him a quick peck on the lips, and a few seconds later when he realized what he had done his face discovered a new shade of red.

He opened his mouth to say something, but the link between his mouth and brain had disconnected. Nothing came out immediately so Ryou blurted out words that were all tied to the same idea, but unfortunately due to the lack of connection between mouth and brain, they were not in chronological order.

"Inside… go… bye… I…" he freaked out even more when Bakura raised an eyebrow at him amused, and finally managed to get his thoughts in order. "I have to go inside now! Bye!" he shoved his key into the door, turned it, twisted the handle sharply, and threw himself against the door. He tumbled inside, and quickly waved at Bakura before slamming the door shut. Locking the door, he slid down it wondering how he was going to face him at school tomorrow.

~~~ Monday (Lunch) ~~~

Ryou was walking down the stairs holding a bunch of fliers, feeling excited as he stared at them. Smiling softly to himself he didn't notice the guys behind him until one of them grabbed him.

"Well, well. If it isn't our little murderer." Ryou flinched as he listened to Ushio, staring hard at the ground as tears started to fill his eyes. He pushed Ushio's arm off him and continues down the stairs. He only made it another step or two before he felt himself being roughly grabbed and turned.

"Look at me when I talk to you!" Ushio yelled, shoving Ryou hard.

"Ushio be careful. If you keep yelling at him he might kill you too." Another guy said. The group behind Ushio all started laughing, harsh taunts, and cruel jokes were the only thing heard on the stairs for a few minutes.

Ryou stared harder at the ground and refused to look up; he held back tears even as they began to blur his vision. He silently took in another deep breathe, and slowly released it as he turned back around.

"Leave him the fuck alone!!" a soft smile came to his face when Marik's voice echoed down the hall. The tears that had been close to spilling out of his eyes, dissipated.

Marik shoved his way through the group, occasionally he would punch a few people who would refuse to budge. He finally made his down to the top of the first flight of stairs, near Ushio and Ryou. Ryou began to turn around when Ushio pushed him. He flew over the side of the stairs, Marik leapt into action as he delivered a swift upper cut to Ushio's jaw, he shoved Ushio out of the way and with speed he didn't know he possessed he leaned over and grabbed Ryou's leg –saving him from a concussion or fractured bones.

* * *

Bakura was walking down the hall calmly with his friends.

"So where is Yuugi exactly?" Bakura asked as they turned the corner.

"He's re-writing a math test he failed." Yami said calmly. They continued walking when they past the school bulletin board, and saw that new flyers had been posted. Seto stopped suddenly in front of it and smirked a bit at one of them.

"Yami, guess what's been planned for Sunday without us knowing?" Jou blinked at his boyfriend confused.

"Seto… how can you know what's been planned for you Sunday if no one's told you?" Seto smirked at him before shaking his head softly. Malik gave him a strange look before shrugging it off. Yami looked over the fliers before he shook his head laughing a bit.

"I'm going to take a wild guess here and say it has something to do with the flyers indicating a certain event."

"Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner." Bakura raised an eyebrow at them as they continued walking down the hall. They ignored the small commotion on the stairs as they passed it, when they heard a startled cry come from above them.

Bakura almost jumped out of his skin when Ryou suddenly appeared in front of him hanging upside down. They were chin to forehead with Ryou's long hair hanging below him.

"Hi, Bakura. What's hanging?" Ryou said nervously his face was slowly turning red as the blood rushed to his face.

"You are." Bakura said, trying to make it sound as if it was a daily occurrence for people to randomly fall off the stairs, magically hang in front of him, and then start a conversation with him.

"Ryou are you okay?!?" Marik voice was heard, and when the group looked up they could see Marik leaning over slightly, one of Ryou's calves in each hand.

This proved Bakura's theory of Ryou magically hanging upside down in front of him wrong, and all Bakura could do was stare at Marik and Ryou in shock wondering what the hell had happened that would lead to Marik dangling Ryou over the side of the stairs.

Seto rolled his eyes as he pushed Bakura out of the way and took his place in front of Ryou reaching up he managed to wrap his arms around his shoulders, while Ryou placed a hand on each of Seto's shoulder and squeezed. "He's fine, I got him." Seto called back to Marik.

Marik heaved a sigh of release as he let go of Ryou's legs, before he calmly turned back around to face Ushio and his gang. He heard knuckles crack behind him, and didn't bother to turn around to acknowledge Yami. They slowly began to advance on them, and Ushio and his gang began to move forward, a smirk on their face.

"Do you two really think you can take on all of us?" he asked. Marik held back a small grimace as he looked at the numbers. 15 vs. 2, hardly fair and he wouldn't be getting out of this unscathed but they had gone too far this time.

"Yes," came another voice from behind them. "But do you really think you can take on all of us?" Bakura smirked at them as Seto, Jou, and Malik also joined their side.

Ushio and his gang glared harder at them before, eventually Ushio smirked. "One of these days we're going to get that little bitch, and you guys won't be their to save him." With that the guys turned and left.

Marik nodded his thanks to Bakura, Jou, and Malik. It was an unspoken rule that when someone from the other groups was in trouble, they help out. It had started when Yami, Marik, and Ryou had defended Yuugi from bullies on his first day at Domino High, when he transferred in the 10th grade.

They nodded back in response, and they all raced back down the stairs where they had left Ryou.

**TBC**

* * *

That's the end of chapter two. It would have been up sooner, but I forgot about it. I wanted to say thanks to InsetSmileyHere15 for giving me my first review!! I wasn't going to continue this but then I got reviews from you and subaru1999 and Yugi-Sora13579! So thanks to all three of you!!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh… do I really have to put this at the beginning of each chapter?

* * *

Ryou grinned as he skipped ahead of the group, laughing slightly as he headed over to the line for a roller coaster. As he gave a little twirl, he stopped skipping, noticing Marik smirking at him. Yami was raising an eyebrow at him, and Seto had made it a point to stop walking with the group.

Giving the area a quick scan, he noticed that quite a bit of people staring at him. He blushed, standing still in the middle of the crowd a little ways off from the roller coaster. Bakura was smirking at him as he and the rest of the group finally caught up to him.

"Finally run out of energy?" he asked. Ryou gave Bakura a little smirk of his own and responded before he could think his words through.

"Babe don't worry about my energy, I'm more concerned over whether or not you'll be able to keep up with me tonight. I plan on riding the town for a night of fun. Do you care to drive?"

"Of course I'll drive, Ryou, you should know that I'd give you a ride anywhere, anytime." Ryou opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Then he opened it again, only to close it as his blush created a new shade of red. Marik once again lost it, and started laughing hysterically. Meanwhile Seto who had rejoined the group –now that Ryou had stopped skipping and twirling– shook his head softly.

"You really walked into that one you know." Yami stated a smirk on his face, Yuugi was giggling slightly, though a guilty blush adorned his cheeks. Jou was staring at Ryou still shocked, and unable to believe such innuendo had come out of his mouth. Shaking his head he thought back to Monday, when he first found out that there was a hidden side to Ryou.

~~~ Flashback ~~~

After Ushio and his gang of goons had fled, Jou and the others had raced back down the stairs to Ryou, only to find Anzu, Honda, Otogi, Shizuka, and Yuugi with him. Ryou was laughing slightly, and was currently in a headlock courtesy of Honda. "Come on Ryou! Don't take that from him, kick his ass! None of us really like him anyway!"

Anzu was cheering him on, as Yuugi laughed and Shizuka giggled lightly at their antics. "Come on Honda! Don't lose to him, I have good money riding on you." and thus the nature of the situation was revealed.

"Ryou the same goes for you! You better not lose!" Anzu yelled, as Yami and the others came to a halt. Malik raised an eyebrow at Marik, silently wondering if this was normal behavior for his friends.

"But Anzu, I'll feel bad if I don't throw the match. We all know how much Honda has been wanting to top Otogi, this match might be his only chance!" Honda started sputtering; blushing slightly, as Ryou took advantage of his shocked state and broke out of the headlock. He high-fived with Anzu, who then hopped into his arms laughing as he spun her around.

"Ryou, you cheating little—" Honda said, still blushing as he lunged at Ryou. Ryou let out a squeak, dropped Anzu, and dove behind Marik, who was snickering quietly to himself.

"Marik, help!" Marik made a quick sidestep before going behind Ryou, and wrapping his elbow around his neck in a choke hold (though he made sure not to press into the carotid arteries and jugular). "Marik!!"

"What? I am helping; it just so happens that I'm on Honda's side." Marik snickering had turned into chuckling, as he held Ryou in place regardless of his squirming.

Bakura decided to interrupt them at this point, "Ryou do you always squirm so much?"

"I don't know how about you meet me in my bedroom, and check?" he purred.

"Sure, when?" Ryou opened his mouth, and closed it again, blushing. Marik's chuckling became full-blown laughter as he let Ryou go, Yami also began laughing.

"I think we should take a picture, the moment Ryou was speechless." Seto said amused. Yuugi, had started blushing staring at Ryou with wide eyes, and Jou's mind went completely blank while he tried to comprehend this new side of Ryou.

Ryou pouted for a bit before remembering something, he hopped up, and grabbed Yami dragging him down the hall. Malik, Bakura, Yuugi, and Jou blinked before realizing the others had already begun to follow him.

When they finally caught up to everyone, Ryou was chattering about how excited he was for the carnival, pointing to the poster on the school bulletin board that they had passed on their walk to the stairs. In the end Yuugi, Yami, Malik, Marik, Seto, Jou, and Bakura had agreed to go with him to the carnival –though most of them either didn't have a choice, or were somehow suckered into coming.

~~~ End of Flashback ~~~

Seto silently looked over at Jou before shaking his head softly. Ryou giggled suddenly before bouncing and somehow managing to crash into Jou, sending him spiraling to the ground. Ryou grinned as he grabbed both Malik and Yuugi, he threw a quick "sorry," over his shoulder before sprinting off –with Marik, Bakura, and Yami close behind.

Seto smiled softly as he helped Jou up, relieved to have a friend like Ryou.

* * *

When Ryou finally stopped running, Yuugi collapsed into a pile of exhaustion. Yami shook his head slightly going over to help him up, when Ryou started running again, dragging only Malik with him. He removed his backpack from his back and instead carried it in the hand that had been holding onto Yuugi's shirt. Yami shook his head slightly, knowing exactly what Ryou was doing.

* * *

They had stopped running again, and Malik was starting to have a hard time breathing, when he was suddenly shoved into Marik's strong arms. He turned around to glare at whoever the hell had shoved him only to stare at Ryou and Bakura's retreating backs. He twitched a bit in annoyance.

"What was the point in all that?" he asked.

Marik rolled his eyes knowingly "He's giving us all some space so we can have some alone time."

Malik blinked shocked slightly, "All that running for that?"

"Yup."

"Oh," and Malik felt a bit of respect for Ryou grow.

* * *

Bakura panted slightly as they finally stopped running, Ryou on the other hand was practically hanging off Bakura unable to stand after so much running. He took a closer look at Ryou –after hearing him begin to cough– and noticed that he was paler than normal, and gasping for breath between each sets of coughs.

Ryou closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out through pursed lips slowly. Repeating this several times, he eventually managed to get himself under control after a few minutes.

"What just happened?" Bakura asked, barely being able to mask his concern, and make the question sound more casual.

"Nothing of utmost importance." Bakura raised an eyebrow at that.

"Really, I have a minor case of asthma, it's nothing severe."

"If that's not severe, I don't know what is."

"Compared to some people, that wasn't asthma at all."

"Really?"

"Really." Ryou looked around before noticing an alleyway near the entrance of the carnival, where they had ended up. He grinned and grabbed Bakura's shirt and began dragging him over to the alley. Walking into the empty alley he called over his shoulder "Cover me, I need to change."

"Okay," Bakura said, and turned around and watched as Ryou began to strip. His mouth began to water slightly as Ryou pulled off his tight black boxers his back to him. Folding everything nicely, Ryou placed them on the ground and opened up his backpack, and pulled out the first article.

Bakura quickly reached up and plugged his nose as Ryou held a thong in his hands –not just any kind of thong, a women's thong. He pulled it on and grabbed a red schoolgirl miniskirt that had blue and beige lines running through it.

Bakura choke a bit on his saliva at the sight, as Ryou now had a black tank top with mesh sides on. There was something odd about the top, there was some kind of belt attached to the shirt with two straps hanging off of it.

Ryou took a boot and a stocking leg out next, and after carefully balancing on one foot, he managed to put the stocking and calf high heeled boot on without touching the floor. He repeated the process with the other stocking and boot, before doing something with the straps that made Bakura unable to see them anymore.

He put on a very short tie that matched his skirt, and pulled on a red elbow length mesh glove on one hand, and a black wrist one on the other hand. Next he grabbed a comb and parted some of his hair over his face. After sticking the comb into his hair he reached down into the bag and managed to grab both a pair of black and red chopsticks and a brush.

He brushed his hair out before gathering it together, pulling it up and piling it on top of his head. He pushed the chopsticks through his hair in opposite directions before pulling the comb out of his hair and brushing all the hair out of his face, and over onto one side.

Placing the comb and brush back into the bag, he pulled out a few small tubes, jar, and a compact. Bakura couldn't see what he was doing with them, but he could easily guess. After a few minutes he was done with them, and he placed the tubes and compact, along with his clothes –that had been on the floor– into his bag.

Ryou whipped around, and blinked at Bakura who was staring at him with wide eyes. The straps that had been hanging from the shirt were now attached to the stockings, and were flat against his legs. His eyes stood out almost instantly though, and Bakura wondered why the effect of his application of eyeliner was so much more noticeable than the girls at school. There was a nice mix of blue and green above Ryou's shining green eyes.

'_Wait a second? GREEN eyes?'_ "Ryou, since when are your eyes green?" Ryou blinked up at him confused, before an invisible light bulb went off over his head.

"I normally wear coloured contacts, wherever I go. That's why when you see me they're brown."

Bakura nodded his head before another thought struck him. "Why are you wearing a skirt? If you were just going to change when you got here, wouldn't it have made more sense to just come in a skirt?"

"It's more fun this way."

"You do realize people are going to start thinking you're a girl, right?"

"What are you going to do? Spank me as punishment for misleading all these people?" Ryou began to regret opening his mouth when slowly an evil grin spread over Bakura's face.

~~~ 3 hours later ~~~

The group had gotten back together and was sitting at a local park; a cooler was right beside Ryou who was lying down –and had also changed back to his regular clothes and wiped off his makeup– his head in Malik's lap. Nobody was quite sure how he had got there, and they also didn't bother to question it. A few of the park regulars had waved over to the group –most of them being familiar with Ryou, Marik, Yami, and Seto– much to the confusion of the others.

"So, Ryou, how long are you planning on staying there?" Correction, nobody bothered to question it until now.

"…" When Ryou didn't respond to his words Marik glanced down at him thinking he was sleeping, only to find him biting his lip.

"What? No comments dripping with innuendo? No sluttish gestures? Nothing, wow this day is so going down in history. Why are you so quiet anyways?"

"I learned my lesson." He said blankly, trying not to remember what had happened a few hours ago in vivid details. He heard Bakura snickering somewhere off to the side, and did his best to avoid his eyes, since he couldn't stop his gaze from roaming back over to him.

Marik blinked and looked over at Bakura whose quite snickers had turned into full blown laughter at Ryou's blush –who had failed at not remembering passed events in full details.

"What did he do? Spank you?" Yami asked jokingly. He managed to keep the shocked look off his face when Ryou tried to hide his face in Malik's leg, and Bakura began laughing harder.

Marik blinked a bit before joining in with Bakura's laughter. "Looks like someone's never going to be little Ms. Smartass anymore." Seto ignored everyone as he noticed that Jou was eating a bit too fast.

"Slow down before you choke mutt." Jou glared at him before speeding up even faster to contradict what Seto said. Unsurprisingly a few minutes later Jou began to choke, and everyone turned to watch. With this added distraction Ryou sat up and winked at Malik who gave him a confused look.

He reached into the cooler and pulled out a bottle of water, still cold due to the slowly melting ice. He slowly crawled over to Marik and stood above him, breaking the rim from the lid as he twisted it off. By this time Jou was fine, and Seto was giving him his trademark superior smirk.

"Ryou, what are you doing?" Yuugi asked staring at him. Marik blinked and looked in the direction that Yuugi was staring, and blinked when he came across a pair of legs. Suddenly he felt cold water fall on his head and instinctively he jerked away from it landing on his back, only to have it poured on his chest.

"You have now officially been forgiven for calling me little Ms. Smartass." Ryou said cheekily. Marik stood up and picked up Ryou slinging him over his shoulder with ease. Yami and Seto took off their shirts, and advised everyone else to do the same.

In the meantime, Marik –ignoring Ryou's pleas for forgiveness and mercy– casually walked over to the cooler and dumped him in it. Ryou let out a loud scream, which didn't seem to have an effect on park regulars, and scrambled out of the cooler, and began jumping up and down.

After calming down, Ryou grabbed another water bottle opened it and whipped the water at Marik's pervious location, fortunately Marik had already moved from his spot, unfortunately he had been standing in front of Malik. Malik let out a yelp, thankful that he had taken off his shirt, before lunging at the cooler grabbing his own water bottle to defend himself.

Seto entered the battlefield next, well aware that with Ryou all water fights were extreme, and no one got out dry. Getting his own bottle he opened it and aimed for Yami who had begun heading for the cooler for "ammo". Yami let out a sigh, before tackling Seto and fighting for the bottle, knowing that unless he managed to disarm Seto there was no way he would get a bottle of his own.

Yuugi blinked in confusion, before looking over to Bakura, the only other dry person near him, "Do you think this is why they almost had a heart attack when we suggested bringing pop?"

"Probably, Ryou's a mischievous little thing; it wouldn't surprise me if this was normal for them." Scanning around him he watched in amusement as Marik, began sneaking up on Yuugi with a water bottle.

Yuugi let out a scream when the cold water hit him, streams of water running down his bare chest. "This means war!" he declared as he glared at Marik before darting off towards the cooler grabbing as many water bottles as he could before running over to an area not too far away and soaking anyone he could reach.

Bakura blinked when he saw Ryou take the remaining water bottles out of the cooler and placed them on the ground, before picking up the cooler. Realization dawned on him as he watched him silently sneak up on Jounouchi who was staring at Seto, completely enthralled by him soaked and shirtless.

He almost fell off the bench he was sitting on from laughter, at the look on Jou's face when Ryou dumped the water and ice that was still in the cooler on his head. Jou glared at Ryou before sprinting over to the bottles that lay on the floor where Ryou had left them before joining the battle.

Ten minutes later the group was down from their original number of forty-five water bottles, to seven. Bakura was still completely dry, and well entertained, as wrestling matches got more intense as water became scarce. After the last bottle had been used everyone collapsed onto the soaked ground.

"You guys have no idea how stupid you all looked!" Bakura said laughing so hard he thought his sides would burst. When he finally managed to calm down he looked around again, "Where's Ryou?" he asked, as a bad feeling washed over him and the others began to smirk at him. He was about to turn around when he was soaked in freezing water.

"Run Mizu-chan! Run!" He heard Ryou giggle, before he turned around and saw Ryou running off with a little girl and a cooler that was definitely _not_ theirs. He grinned and wave at the family that he had burrowed the cooler from as he jogged backwards to the group.

"Okay people, time to get to work!" Ryou said with a bright smile that was usually reserved for his group of friends. Malik and Jou shared a look of confusion, before they noticed that Ryou, Marik, Yami, and Seto had begun to pick up the empty water bottles and place them in the now empty cooler.

A few minutes later after everything had been collected Yuugi, Malik, and Bakura were surprised to see Seto's limo already waiting for them. They grabbed their dry shirts and put them on –with the exceptions of Marik and Ryou's shirts which were soaked, who instead took them off.

Bakura watched in amusement as Ryou ran down to the passengers side and sat with the driver as everyone else piled in to the back. After a few minutes of driving to some location that only Ryou and now the driver knew, Seto rolled down the window that separated the driver and Ryou from the rest of the passengers.

~~~ 10 minutes later ~~~

They had arrived at a house and the others were staring at Ryou. "Ryou why are we here?" Yuugi asked after Ryou had unlocked the door and they removed their shoes.

"Better yet, where is here?" Malik asked.

"We're at Ryou's house." Marik said staring at Ryou slightly confused, as Mitsuko the limo driver locked the limo and walked into the house. Not even a minute later Ryou grabbed Yuugi and dragged him upstairs, before he had the chance to protest.

"Should we be worried?" Malik asked as Yami locked the door.

"No, Ryou almost always has a reason for everything he does." Marik said calmly making his way over to the living room, and plopping down on the couch.

"Operation: Blooming Cherry Toilet Blossoms," was all Seto said before taking over the love seat, Jounouchi moving to cuddle with him as everyone else found somewhere to sit in the room. Marik paled slightly as he remembered OBCTB.

"What Seto means," Yami began, "Is be afraid, be very afraid."

"What's Operation: Blooming Cherry Toilet Blossoms?" Bakura asked amused as Marik began to pale even further at the mentioning of the name.

Yami sent Marik a smirk before replying, "Well, OBCTB is when—"

"NO!!!! DON'T REMIND ME!!!" Seto began to chuckle at Marik who looked a few stages away from hyperventilating.

"Remember boys," Mitsuko interrupted, "Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil." he gestured over to Marik who was trying to suffocate himself with a thin sheet that had been draped over the back of the couch.

They snickered lightly as they continue watching Marik enter spasms at the thought of the horrible memory, by now they were all really curious about OBCTB.

"What's wrong with Marik?" Yuugi asked as he walked downstairs. Ryou looked over at Marik who was huddling in the couch trying to melt into it after realizing you can't suffocate yourself with a thin sheet.

"Oh he's probably remembering OBCTB; he'll recover in a few minutes."

"What's OBCTB?" noticing all the stares he was getting he flinched slightly, "Is it that bad?" he questioned.

Yuugi had been forced out of the clothes he had been wearing before, and now stood in a formal attire, with ironed dress pants, a white t-shirt with a black jacket and tie. His collar that he normally wore had been removed, and his hand was reaching up and rubbing at the rarely exposed skin.

"It's not bad Yuugi," Yami said looking over to Ryou who was beckoning him with his finger.

"It's nice to know you come when fingered Yami," Ryou said innocently. Yami rolled his eyes as he was dragged upstairs.

"So Marik, overcome your fear yet?" Seto said smirking at the now composed Marik.

"Shut up, as for the rest of you Operation: Blooming Cherry Toilet Blossoms is a _taboo_ subject." he said calmly.

"No it's not," Seto pointed out, "He just doesn't want to talk about it."

"What did I miss?" Yuugi wondered aloud, "I was only gone for five minutes, and I'm completely lost."

"With us, if you miss five minutes, you shouldn't even bother trying to understand what we're talking about." Marik told Yuugi, stretching out on the couch, and propping his feet up on Malik's lap.

A few minutes later after pointless conversation Yami and Ryou both came downstairs, with Yami also in formal attire, and missing his collar.

"Come on Ryou, give it back." Yami said.

"No." Ryou said flatly, before turning back to everyone else, "It's time to head to our next destination!"

They all piled back into the limo in the same seat as before, and were headed off to the next destination. When they stopped in front of Ichigawa, Bakura blinked, because there was no way in hell they were dressed up enough to go to such a fancy restaurant.

Ryou bounced out of the car and opened the car door for Yami and Yuugi, who scrambled out. "Presenting Yami and Yuugi, both of whom are collarless!" A quiet chuckle escaped a couple slightly to the left of the restaurant.

They quickly approached them and Ryou found himself wrapped up in the embrace of a woman with long black hair that had red streaks running through it. The man who had spikey blond hair walked over and messed with Ryou's hair after he had been released. Ryou handed the woman Yami's collar and smiled brightly at her before sticking out his tongue at Yami.

"Notice how your parents greet me first? I told you they liked me more!" he snickered.

Yami casually flipped Ryou off, only to be chastised by his mom for doing such an action, in such high quality company. He rolled his eyes as he was dragged off, mouthing his thanks to Ryou. Grinning Ryou finally climbed into the back seat and blinked at the stares he was getting.

"What? I knew he was going to forget."

**TBC**

… I kinda forgot about this fic for a while, and then I saw the summary for it and I was kinda like "Hmmm this looks pretty good." And then I started reading it and I was all "OMG this writing style is almost as bad as my own," and then I started to get this weird déjà vu feeling so I looked at the reviews, which made it even worse so I finally looked at the author and I was like "I am such a fucking idiot." Anyways here's the next update that would have been up sooner if I hadn't forgotten about the fic a second… and third and forth time. And if your wondering, Ryou was wearing a 3pc Detention Slip Sandy… I also kinda need a beta (which is kinda bad, because then I'll need to get my ass in gear) so if your interested find some way to contact me… though I might not get your response for a few weeks, I'm that lazy… oh and here's a preview for another fic I'm contemplating doing so if you like it tell me, if not tell me so I don't waste time when I could… _should_ be working on this… though I make no promises.

**NO ROMANCE!**

_What the FUCK!!!_ Ryou thought as he stared at his bed. He mentally went through his day, and tried to remember if he had sprinkled hundreds of rose petals over his bed. Coming up blank, he decided that it definitely had not been him, and instead it was his soon to be maimed yami.

Groaning, Ryou surveyed his room again. To his right his curtains were drawn, preventing the moonlight from entering the room. Though the light was off this was no problem, as around the room white candles were lit. He sighed, walking over to the left side of his bed; he grabbed the edge of his sheet, and began shaking it out. He silently thanked the gods that the space on the other side of his bed was the only area of the room sans candles.

After clearing his bed of the rose petals, he began walking around the room blowing out the candles. He had about three more candles left to blow out when Bakura walked into the room. He glared at him as Bakura surveyed the room shocked he quickly finished blowing out the rest of the candles.

"If I wasn't so tired right now, I would lecture you." he said as he crawled into bed. He fell asleep almost as soon as he managed to get under the blankets, and it wasn't until then that he realized what Bakura had been trying to do.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: … These things are so annoying. I still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh... or Bakura's last name.

~~~ *** ~~~

"Did you have fun yesterday, Malik?" Ryou asked as they walked down the hall towards the school entrance.

"Of course! Carnivals, and water fights, normally Sundays are the worst because not only is there school the next day but they're _so _boring." Ryou gave Malik a gentle smile as they reached the end of the hall.

"I'll see you later Malik, we're eating lunch outside today." Malik blinked slightly before offering Ryou a small grin.

"I'll come with you, I'm leaving after lunch, and I want to talk to Marik before I go home." Ryou nodded his head a bit, and the two walked out the school in silence.

Malik studied Ryou, noticing the obvious differences in his personality when he was away from his friends. Sunday Ryou would have held his head up and cracked a few sex jokes, but now at school –even though it was just the two of them– he walked with his head down, and rarely made eye contact.

Once they were outside Ryou walked over to a tree by the school gates, plopping down into the shade it provided.

"You'll have to wait a few minutes, Malik-kun." Malik whipped around to stare at Ryou at the use of the honourific. It seemed the longer they were alone, the more Ryou withdrew into himself.

"Just Malik, Ryou. Not Malik-kun, chan, sempai or anything else you can tack onto it… though I wouldn't be all that opposed if you wanted to call me Malik-sama." Ryou let out a small grin during the rant, silently observing a group of teens walk by the gates. His eyes narrowed slightly when they suddenly stopped and walked onto school property.

"Malik, I have a bad feeling. I think we should go insi-"

"Well, well, well, look at what we've got here. A slut that has no loyalty and a pretty little albino." Malik had tensed up completely and Ryou blinked slowly at them.

"Albino's have light coloured eyes." He said softly –ignoring the fact that his natural eye colour was an eerie foam green that was darker in some places and lighter in others– eyes darting around the area searching for an escape route.

He counted the group as his eyes skimmed past him. Thirteen guys in total had formed a semi-circle around them, trapping them between the front school gates and the gang members. They were out numbered and Ryou bet that by the way one of them was twirling a switchblade around; they were probably outclassed as well.

"Look the albino's a little smartass as well." Ryou didn't reply eyes still searching for a way out of this, Malik –who had his back to them– was biting his lip, and shaking slightly, his breaths were quiet and drawn out.

"What? Cat got you're tongue?" They laughed hard as Ryou continued to ignore them.

In a flash one of them had reached out and yanked Malik forcing him to turn around. Malik let out a little yelp at the pain from the grip on his shoulder. He growled slightly, slapping at the hand on his shoulder hoping to knock it off, but was sorely disappointed when nothing happened.

"Takaido (Zygore), shouldn't you be back at base bouncing around in Keith's lap?" he asked innocently. He ignored the grip that tightened on his shirt at his remark.

"Look everyone, kitty has claws. Too bad the claws are dull and useless. Now, Malik, I'm going to teach you what happens when you fuck with the Hitomi Gang."

"You do realize that strength in numbers doesn't make up for strength of stupidity, right?" Malik asked, his gaze shifting from the one who held him to the one who had spoken, trying to stare him down.

The grip on his shoulder tightened and Malik realized Takaido had raised his arm to slap him. His gaze flickered for a moment, from the one standing in the center of the group, to the thug about to hit him before quickly shifting back.

"Now, Takaido, you shouldn't hit him. We wouldn't want to ruin his pretty face." The one Malik had been trying to stare down had stepped forward, his composure cool as though he hadn't even heard the insult.

"What do you want Hirutani?" The gang leader gave a cruel smile as he slowly circled around Malik and Takaido, looking the former up and down.

"I already told you, slut, we're going to teach you a lesson and drag what's left of you back to Bandit Keith, as well as this pretty little albino." He snapped his fingers, and Malik was shoved back, he nearly tripped over Ryou, but managed to catch himself at the last moment.

"Leave him out of this; he has nothing to do with it." Malik's voice had gotten strangely low, and a sense of calm washed over him as he gazed at the thugs.

"Oh how noble and incredibly cliché of you Malik, too bad no one cares what you want. If Keith doesn't want the little albino I'll keep it, you can never have too many whores."

Cruel laughter followed this statement, and the sense of calm that had consumed Malik vaporized. Immediately though a wave of fury replaced the lost feeling, as Malik's blood began to bubble.

"How dare you call him an "it", you shithead! Does he look like an object? No, didn't fucking think so!" he screamed practically foaming at the mouth.

"All women are objects. All they're good for his cooking, breeding, fucking, and showcasing."

Malik stared at him confused and went silent, trying to piece together what the hell that had to do with anything. His confusion was solved when Ryou finally spoke.

"I'm a boy."

It was short, it was sweet, and it made Malik want to laugh at poor Ryou for the mix-up. Hirutani blinked in confusion before stepping forward and yanking Ryou off the ground by his hair. Hands ran up and down Ryou's body before eventually making their way over his crotch, roughly squeezing the piece of evidence they found.

"You little slut! Does it get you off making people think you're a girl?" he sneered, tossing Ryou to the ground.

"I'm wearing the male school uniform, what made you think I was a girl?" Ryou stated, blankly staring at him.

Hirutani bared his canines at him before snapping his fingers twice. The first snap made the gang advance on them, the second started the attack.

Malik barely had enough time to dodge the punch that was thrown at his head. Ducking under the arm he managed to twist his way behind Takaido, and push him into someone else that had been advancing on him for the rear. The two collapsed into a pile, of tangled limbs, and Malik whipped around just in time to block another punch to the head. A short cry escaped him when a sharp kick to the side from another lackey sent him tumbling into two students that had just entered school grounds.

"What the fuck Malik!" was all he heard before he was roughly shoved, back towards the fight. The force of the shove was hard enough to give him the momentum to land a solid roundhouse kick on Takaido who had gotten back up.

Ryou on the other hand was not fairing as well as Malik, the guy with the knife had decided to target him, as well as Hirutani and a few others. He was currently pinned under Hirutani and was trying to get out from under him, and call him an overachiever; he was also trying to make sure he wasn't stabbed at the same time. Sucking in a deep breath –and praying that his mild case of asthma didn't decide to kick in– Ryou pressed both his feet against Hirutani and pushed.

Hirutani let out a shocked sound as he flew a few feet off the ground, but managed to land on his feet. Ryou copied a cool move he had seen Jackie Chan do in movies and pushed off the ground to land on his feet, narrowly avoiding the knife that had been thrown at him. Taking another deep breath Ryou ran at the guy, who was currently pulling out a replacement knife, fist raised. He waited until the last minute, and ducked behind him, kicking him in the back of the knee and watching it buckle under him, effectively wiping the smirk off his face.

A sharp pain exploded throughout his body, as a metal pole whacked the side of his neck. The force of the blow sent him to the ground, and Ryou let out a panicked gasp as something caught his eye despite his rapidly blurring vision. He quickly rolled to his feet, and ran towards Malik, tackling him to the ground, as a loud bang echoed over them.

Malik bashed his head hard when Ryou tackled him, and barely managed to roll them out of harms way, as a knife landed in their old spot. He panicked when he saw Takaido move the gun to aim at them.

~~~ *** ~~~

Marik sighed in annoyance as the person in front of him, stalled the line with his inability to choose an item, and from the looks of it the lunch lady wasn't all that impress by the student in front of her either. He glared at Yami who was on the other side of the cafeteria laughing at him slightly having managed to avoid the early lunch rush. He was talking to a smirking Seto and Bakura, all of them silently enjoying his pain.

"Ya, I hope they kick the crap out of Malik." Marik's heart stopped and he turned around to observe Haga and Ryuuzaki as they entered the cafe.

"Maybe we should say something, I mean I would hate for them to kick the shit out of Ryou, Marik would kill us if he found out we knew."

"Who cares about that butthead, it's his fault Muraki-sensei is dead."

"True, but mess with Marik and we'll be the ones dead."

His heart started again, thick hot blood rushing through his veins as he began to see red. He left the line and stopped in front of them glaring down at the two. He grabbed them both by their shirts, and dangled them a few inches above the ground.

"What the fuck are you two talking about?" His voice sounded strange even to him, coming out soft and slowly instead of the angry burst he was expecting. Ryuuzaki instantly began to do everything in his power to avoid wetting himself.

"There's a giant fight going on outside near the school gates, a dozen or so guys are going after Ryou and Malik." He was about to run out of the cafeteria to stop the fight, but as he passed Mitoko-sensei, he was hit by a memory.

~~~ Flashback ~~~

"You want to do this the right way don't you?" Ryou stood there holding a cherry bomb lightly between his fingers in the middle of his living room.

"Obviously," he said "But no matter what we do we're going to get caught."

"All we need is to have a figure of authority vouch for our innocence," Everyone in the room turned to stare at Ryou like he was nuts.

"And how are we going to go about this without LYING to a teacher?" Seto asked bored, leaning against the wall.

"We bring a teacher into the bathroom with us and set it up in record time so it seems impossible for us to have done it." He smiled innocently.

"It's hard to say whether you're a genius, or one incredibly fucked-up little boy." Yami said with a fond smile.

~~~ End Flashback ~~~

Marik stopped for a second, and then made his decision.

"Guys!" he yelled across the cafeteria, "Ryou and Malik need us!" he took a deep breath, and tossed his English teacher over his shoulder. Darting out the cafeteria, he noted that the others were following him, while he ignored Mikoto's screams.

Seto had quickly taken the lead, his long legs giving him larger strides. At the rear Anzu and Shizuka were trying to keep up, not used to the fast pace the boys were going at. They quickly rushed out the building heading for the gates, Mikoto's screams having died out as she realized whose shoulder she was on –though her trembling had yet to subside.

They could see what was going on outside the second they exited the building, both Ryou and Malik were on the ground, Malik staring at one guy, and Ryou staring at Malik in shock. Yami didn't even have to think about it, as he hurled the lunch tray he was still holding at the back of Takaido's head.

"Mikoto stay here, we may need a witness." The school teacher nodded eyes focused on the fight that was going on as the eight guys and two girls joined the fight. She watched in mild fascination as Anzu delivered a nasty slap to one guy and it was followed up by Shizuka shoving him to the ground.

Honda was the first one to see the gun and he immediately shoved Takaido to the ground, struggling for it. Otogi seeing this ran over, and helped pin him, and soon they had recovered the gun, and tossed it onto the ground near Mikoto's feet.

"Hirutani, what the hell are you doing here?" Hirutani dodged the blow to his head.

"Teaching a certain slut a lesson." Jou glared at him and side-stepped the kick, grabbed the leg and prepared to drive his elbow into the knee, only to have to dodge a punch.

"We're done with you, and I swear if you've done anything to—" The fighting was getting more intense as the argument grew heated.

"It's a bit late for that; we've already taught him his lesson. But Katsuya you really need to reconsider, I've talked to Keith, and he's agreed to let you back on board."

"What part of I'm done with you didn't you understand?" Jou swore under his breath, as a hard punch to the gut sent him spiraling to the ground.

"That's too bad, you know too many of our secrets, we're going to have to kill you now." Hirutani slowly pulled out his gun, taking careful aim at Jounouchi. "Are you sure you don't want to change sides?" he asked with a cold smirk.

"Yes." Jou was positive that he would rather be dead than go back to them. Not after what had happened to Malik and Shizuka.

"Fine. Goodbye Jounouchi Katsuya." BANG! CRACK! THUD!

Hirutani let out a loud swear as he examined his arm. It was hanging limply at his side, and he was pretty sure it was broken. Ignoring the screaming pain, he looked over to Jou who was crying out in agony, while holding his shoulder. He twitched in frustration; he had completely missed his mark. Whoever had flipped him managed to not only break his arm, but completely fucked-up his shot.

Seto glared at Hirutani, as he kicked the gun hard towards Mikoto. The school teacher was keeping her feet planted on top of both guns, and had already phoned the police. They could hear the sirens in the distance, snarling Hirutani stood up and ran off property.

Everyone else following closely behind, only one stopped in front of Malik before leaving. Marik immediately placed himself between Takaido and Malik, glaring at the former fiercely.

"You think your boyfriend can protect you forever, Malik? One day he won't be around and we'll get your ass back. He can only protect you for so long, but I guess it's nice know that you were smart enough to know we meant business the last time we met. Sayonara, brat."

Takaido could barely contain his smirk at the look on Marik's face; he could practically hear the gears turning in his head. He was trembling in rage now; obviously he had interpreted that little tidbit exactly how he wanted him to. Turning, he fled the school, as the sirens got even closer.

"Malik, how do you feel? That wound looks terrible!" Ryou cried as he tried to stop the flow of blood.

"What happened to him?" Otogi asked, as Bakura and the others approached. Jou had an arm slung around Seto's shoulder, and was clutching at his injury.

"That ass shot him," Ryou mumbled "But I don't think it should be bleeding this much." He ripped a strip of his shirt off and tied it around Malik's bleeding thigh.

The sirens were getting closer.

"Malik, why did you ask me out?" Ryou blinked and stared at Marik.

"Because I like you."

"Why else?" Malik looked up at Marik, noticing the slight tremours that racked through his body. He realized the truth was about to come out.

"What do you mean?" Maybe if he was lucky he could stall until the police arrived.

"You know exactly what I mean." Malik flinched, holding back tears.

"It's not what you think."

"It's not what I think? We'll then you'd better start explaining because it looks like you've been using me. It looks like the only reason you asked me out is because you thought I'd make a decent body guard. So what is it, Malik, please enlighten me."

"I like you, Marik, I really do… It's just that—"

"It's just that what?"

The sirens were so close now.

"It's just that you were in trouble and needed someone to take care of you. Maybe if I had known what was going on, I would've helped you out. But now that I know you've been using me for your own selfish reasons… it doesn't matter. We're over, Malik." And just like that he turned and left.

Ryou could see the flashing lights now.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" Everyone eyes snapped over to Seto who was glaring at Jou. "All those times I went out with you and brought Mokuba along… he was in danger! Why the fuck didn't you tell me you had people after your life?"

"I didn't think it mattered." Jou responded, eyes clenched as he fought through the pain.

"You didn't think it mattered, or you didn't care?"

"Of course I care! Mokuba's like a little brother to me!"

"Some older brother you are. Do you make it a habit to endanger your younger siblings?"

Jou saw red.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut the fuck up! You don't know anything."

"I do know one thing, we're finished. Like hell I'd stay with someone who endangered Mokuba." He stormed off.

The ambulance was practically at the gates.

"Yuugi? You're not like them right?"

He didn't answer, just gave Yami a look. Tears trailing down his cheeks.

"I guess we're done to." Yami gave Yuugi one last kiss before walking away.

It was pulling up.

"Otogi?"

"I'm sorry."

"We're over then." He walked away fist clenched.

The medics filed out.

Ryou looked at all of them. Yuugi, Malik, Jounouchi, Otogi, Shizuka… and Bakura.

"Why?"

One word, one question, and yet not a single verbal answer.

He looked into each of their eyes and understood. Anzu walked over to him, her eyes filled with concern. They left walking side by side as the medics reached Malik and the others. As he passed Bakura he gave him a small smile.

This wasn't the end.

~~~ *** ~~~

"You have to forgive him."

"Why? He was fucking using me! That's all they ever fucking do!" A fist slammed into his wall.

Anzu and Honda sat quietly on the couch, arms wrapped around each other. Yami and Seto were in the centre of the mess of pillows on the living room floor, Yami's head in Seto's lap. Ryou sat alone in his recliner, watching as Marik paced the room.

Marik punched the wall again.

"You have to forgive him." Ryou repeated.

"Why." Honda asked.

"Because they love you."

Marik engaged in a heavy fist fight with the wall. Honda buried his head in Anzu's shoulder, tears escaping from his eyes. Yami sobbed quietly to himself. Seto began growling. Anzu held Honda closer, watching everything with tears in her eyes. Ryou closed his eyes waiting for everyone to calm down.

Finally, everything began to settle. Marik picked Ryou up, and placed him in his lap, as he sat down in the recliner.

"You have to forgive him." He sounded like a broken record.

"I know." The words echoed around the room, several people having said them.

Later night fell, and everyone moved onto the pillow drenched floor. Blankets were pulled out, as everyone cuddled close, thinking about things that had yet to come. They all fell asleep hoping that everything would be okay.

**TBC**

Well that's a wrap. Not much to say except I'll start working on the next chapter eventually.


	5. Chapter 5

After a month or so, it was like nothing had ever happened.

The cops had done their part and interviewed the students at the school. They had tried to poke and prod and wheedle as much information about the incident as they possibly could. In the end though, they were eventually forced to move on with their jobs as other more pressing issues popped up.

Things went back to the way they used to be before Ryou and the others had rescued Yuugi from a group of bullies. They went back to ignoring each other. There was only one major difference from before and now.

Ryou was officially unofficially dating Bakura.

Everyone was talking about it. Ryou could be seen hanging out with Bakura when he wasn't with his friends. The two could be seen laughing, and flirting together during school hours. However, after school, they could be seen glaring at each other almost as if they were denying all the rumours floating around about them.

It was hard on all of them, trying to ignore the people they had grown unreasonably close to in such a short period of time. Yami and Yuugi had been dating for almost a year and a half now, and it was almost weird to see one without the other. They were also well aware that Yami was still hurting deeply from breaking up with Yuugi and still cried at night. Which was why they weren't surprised to see the two get back together one day.

**DtCW**

"Get back here, you little pipsqueak!" Yuugi grunted as he made a sharp turn into another alley to avoid the guys who were on his tail. There were only three of them, but they had managed to ambush him earlier and he was pretty sure they had managed to break his arm.

A few more twist and turns in the complex maze of the alleys, most of which were only a blur as he rushed to find a safe hiding spot, he reached a busy street and darted into it. Taking off into the crowd he did his best to blend in and try to lose his pursuers.

Peeking over his shoulder, he was horrified to see that they were only a few feet away from him and looked pissed as they headed straight for him. A black van pulled up by him and he couldn't stop the tears that filled his eyes. This was the end of the line.

"Yuugi!" Whipping around to stare in the direction he'd originally been heading in, he was surprised to see Yami standing there staring at him in shock. Without a second thought he darted over to him, ignoring the pain that blazed through his arm every time it moved.

"Yeah?" he gasped as he did his best to catch his breath.

"What's going on?" Yami asked worriedly.

"I don't really have time to talk, Yami. I have to get going before—"

"Where did you think you're going?" A large hand gripped Yuugi's shoulder.

Yuugi froze at the sound of the voice and absolute terror raced through his veins at the sound of the one voice he could live without hearing again. Slowly, as if the slower he turned the more likely the results would change, he turned around. "Keith." The name was barely a whisper as it passed his lips.

"You're coming with me." It was an order, a direct order with consequences if he didn't follow it.

Tears escaped his eyes as his head dropped, accepting his fate. At least all of Keith's other lackeys had decided to stay in the van.

"No, he's coming with me." Yuugi yelped as he was suddenly grabbed and shoved behind a body.

"Yami," he started, "you do not want to get involved with this guy. For your own good, you have to stay out of this." With that said, Yuugi gently pushed past Yami to face Keith once more.

"That's a good whore." Keith smirked. Reaching out a hand he placed it on the back of Yuugi's neck and began leading him to the black van. Or at least that's what would have happened if Yami's fist hadn't connected with his face the second his arm began to raise. "Fuck!" he cried.

"Leave him the fuck alone!" Yami cried.

"Why you little—"

"Is there a problem here?" a dark voice questioned.

Yuugi gasped upon recognition of the voice and whirled around to face Marik.

"Don't get involved," he murmured loud enough for everyone to hear, "this guy is dangerous.

Marik ignored Yuugi, stepping past him to glare at Keith.

Keith tensed up at the sight of Marik and Yami's body relaxed at the sound of his voice. The benefits of having a friend like Marik included that just the sight of him tended to intimidate the most cut throat of enemies.

Snarling to himself at the intrusion of the giant before him, Keith decided now was the time to retreat. "This isn't over, Yuugi."

Yuugi let go of a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Suddenly the situation clicked and he exploded on the two males. "You guys didn't listen to me! Are you crazy! You don't want to mess with him! What were you—"

"Shut up, Yuugi." Marik snapped.

"Are you okay, Yuugi?" Yami whispered concerned.

"I'm fine, Yami." he whispered.

"But, Yuugi, what about your arm?"

"It's fine, Yami." He lied. Ignoring the agonizing throbbing of his arm he lowered his head and began walking away from the other two. He wasn't able to hold back the cry of pain that escaped his lips as Yami grabbed the injured arm.

"Yuugi, look at it! Your arm looks weird; I think it's dislocated or broken."

"Don't worry about it." He muttered as he tried once more to leave the scene as Yami released him. Only to be grabbed by the arm once more.

Yelping he turned to glare at the person who held his injured arm in a tight grip. Poking and prodding at it, Marik nodded to himself as he evaluated the injury. "It's only dislocated." He mumbled to Yami.

"That's a relief. Don't worry, Yuugi, you're going to be fine." Yami sighed.

"Why do you even care? You're not my boyfriend, just leave me alone!"

Yuugi would probably never forget the look in Yami's eyes at those words. The haunted look shocked him into a numbness, one that prevented him from feeling pain as Marik fixed his arm, and from fighting to get away as he was led away somewhere else.

He didn't snap out of his daze until he stood in the park, watching as Ryou and Bakura glared at each other and a voice rang out. "Marik, Yami, and … Yuugi, you're here!"

Turning to glance at the speaker, Yuugi blinked at the sight of Mokuba making his way over to them, Seto glaring at him as he approached from further away. "Hey, Mokuba, what's up?"

"Oh nothing. So why are you here?"

"I'm not exactly sure." Yuugi mumbled, peeking up at Yami from beneath his bangs. "What's Bakura doing here?"

"I think he's playing some sort of weird sex game with Ryou."

Yuugi sputtered turning red. "He's doing what?"

"It's not a sex game!" Ryou cried as he broke eye contact with Bakura and made his way over to the others. "So, Yuugi it's good to see you again after so long." Ryou chirped as he stood by them.

"What are you doing here, squirt?" Bakura asked dropping a hand on Yuugi's head.

Surveying the park, Yuugi couldn't help but feel that it seemed to be more packed than normal. Brushing the thought away as paranoia, Yuugi turned to Ryou just in time to hear, "Tag, you're it!" and be shoved to the ground.

The others took off in different directions, and Yuugi couldn't help but think that this whole situation seemed scripted. Darting off after Mokuba, Yuugi noticed a man reaching into his pocket as Mokuba neared him.

The others seemed to notice this as well because in a second Seto was on the guy and had him reeling on the ground in pain.

But there was a second person, a female and she almost had Mokuba in her grasp. In that moment, everything around Yuugi seemed to slow down as he sped up. Just as the woman was removing something from her pocket, Yuugi reached them.

"Mokuba, get out of the way!" Yuugi cried shoving the smaller boy to the ground. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a flash, and than there was a burning pain in his arm.

"Fuck!" he heard Seto cry from a distance. The ground flew up to meet his face as he plunged to it, the two of them meeting with a sickening _CRACK_!

"Let's move out people! I want that man apprehended now!" cried an unfamiliar voice.

"Yuugi, you're going to be okay." a deep voice slightly tinged in panic informed him.

"Yami?" he murmured. "What happened?"

"Seto received a letter threatening to kill Mokuba if he released his latest product. We came here to flush the guy out if he really did want to hurt Mokuba. The cops are grabbing the guy and an ambulance is on the way."

Yuugi's heart skipped a beat. "No! No ambulance! I don't need to go the hospital, I'm fine!" he screeched as he began to panic.

"Yuugi, calm down." Bakura mumbled as he approached the two on the floor. "We're not going to take you to the hospital."

Yami's head whipped up to snap at Bakura, but before he could say anything Ryou spoke. "Yeah, Yuugi, we're going to take you to my place and get you patched up there."

"Thanks, for saving me, Yuugi!" Mokuba smiled at Yuugi as he finally pushed himself off the ground.

"No problem, Mokuba. It was no problem –" and then he passed out.

When Yuugi awoke, he was at Ryou's place, sitting on a vaguely familiar couch as the owner of it patched up his arm.

After all that had happened that day, Yuugi couldn't tear his eyes away from Ryou. The teen was wrapping up the gash in his arm with a calm efficiency that helped Yuugi to relax. "Why… why are you helping me?"

"Don't be stupid, Yuugi, we're friends, and friends help each other."

"I know but it would be better if we weren't friends, you'd be better off if you stayed away from me."

"Would I be better off, or would Yami?"

Yuugi tensed for a moment, unable to answer the question.

"I have a theory, Yuugi. I don't think you got together with Yami because some assholes threatened you. I'm pretty sure that actually happened sometime this year, and you've been with Yami for quite some time now."

"So?" he whispered suddenly feeling exhausted.

"So, I think that you let Yami believe otherwise so he'd break up with you and stay safe."

"You can't prove that!" Yuugi cried the energy he had been previously missing, materialized back in his bloodstream in an instant.

"I'm right though, aren't I?" Ryou smirked as he tightened the bandage.

"Just don't tell him." Yuugi mumbled feeling exhausted once more as his head dropped down to his chest. The whole day had been an emotional roller coaster and he knew he was reaching the end of the ride.

"Yuugi?" Yuugi almost broke into the tears at the sound of shock in Yami's voice.

"Yami, it's for your own good." he whispered quietly to himself. Raising his head he turned to face Yami. "We can't be together."

"Why not?"

Yuugi groaned inwardly as Bakura joined Ryou on the couch.

"You know why, Bakura." He muttered.

"No, I don't." Bakura stated. "Yuugi, Yami is a big boy, you have to let him decide whether or not he loves you enough to try and save you."

"But—"

"No buts." Ryou cut in. "Now, Yami, do you love Yuugi enough to be with him, even though you might lose your head at any moment?"

Yami didn't say anything for a while, and Yuugi was torn between feeling hurt and relief at the unspoken answer.

"I wouldn't have saved him earlier if I didn't." Yami murmured.

"See, Yuugi, Yami has made his decision like a mature adult, can you do the same?" Bakura stated almost patronizingly.

"But what if this all goes wrong?"

"Yuugi," Ryou spoke, "crossing the street on your way to school can go wrong, but that hasn't stopped you from trying to get an education, now has it? Anything can go wrong, which is why people only try to do the things they care for with a passion. So, do you care for Yami enough to try?"

Yuugi stared at Yami for a second, Ryou's words of wisdom echoing through his head.

Finally he came to his decision. "Yes." he susurrated (1).

"So," Ryou and Bakura stated in unison, "what are you two waiting for?"

Yami rolled his eyes at them. "Maybe some privacy." he grumbled before reaching over to kiss Yuugi.

Too bad the sound of their kiss couldn't drown out the sound of Ryou and Bakura's teasing voice.

And they only broke apart to answer the questions about what Yami had saved Yuugi from earlier.

**TBC**

Yay! Another chapter… Isn't that just swell? Honestly, I went back to read this fic to write this chapter and I laughed so hard. I honestly fell off my chair from laughing. I can't believe two chapters ago I spent an entire page describing Ryou getting dressed.

Now, I'm really sorry this chapter is beyond late, but it's one of those fics where I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing with it. I'm just kinda making it up as I go along.

Also, I realize that there wasn't a lot of focus on Ryou and Bakura, but they're currently busy playing match maker for their friends, so expect to see a lot of them for now, but don't expect a lot of focus on them.

So, there you go, Shadow fairy princess, another chapter as promised up a day sooner.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, expect the next update in another two years. LOL I'm just joking… I think.


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